User blog:DutchRits/Character Card Comparison, Part 3
The Rare ® cards introduce an interesting paradigm to TF:Legends. On the one hand, they are our first brush with some of the truly iconic characters of the Transformers franchise. On the other they are also our first exposure to the power of higher level cards, yet they are split between methods of obtaining them and their power levels are widely disparate as compared to the tight power grouping of the C & UC tiers. They are also the first cards that have signature weapons (sold separately, either via Space Bridge or via campaign levels) that add a significant stat increase. We are asked to choose one as our leader upon first starting to play (I chose Wheeljack) and they become the transitional members of our teams as we struggle to accumulate SRs. The R Cards continue the tier pattern I discussed before (http://transformers-legends.wikia.com/wiki/User_blog:DutchRits/Character_Card_Comparison,_Part_1 & http://transformers-legends.wikia.com/wiki/User_blog:DutchRits/Character_Card_Comparison_Part_2; edited 31 July 2013), but here is where things start getting interesting. First off, you have access to the first eight characters through the campaign missions via "Combat Cache" zones, making them the most "common" of the R cards. Of the eight, Laserbeak is easily the best character, from an MTM stat total standpoint, and he actually falls into the second tier in my proposal. (Note to new players: select Laserbeak as your leader.) The rest of the R cards are available SOLELY through the Space Bridge. As exciting as it was to draw them early on, they now make up the bulk of the paid draws via the event Tiered Space Bridge (much to the frustration of hardcore players) and have become anything BUT rare. Most experienced players now stockpile Rs for use in card upgrades. Secondly, the R's are where we first start to see a deviation from the "relative capability" I discussed previously. Megatron is the 4th best R card, from an MTM total standpoint, and statistically is less powerful than Starscream! Grimlock and Optimus Prime are the two best (non-event) R's, with stats a full 500 points ahead of Megatron and Starscream. Another surprise is how relatively low Ultra Magnus ranks compared to Autobot Jazz. Don't get me wrong, Jazz is one of the franchise's most recognizable and favorite characters (and mine as well). But why does ol' UM rank behind Jazz, Ramjet, Soundwave, Slipstream & Ironhide? A simple swap of places with Jazz, stats and all, would fix that issue. Additionally, Bumblebee's inclusion in this group is solely a nod to his "popularity" (personally, I never liked him, except in the first Michael Bay TF movie...maybe because he was FINALLY a bad-a$$ the same size as Jazz), when as a "minibot" he belongs with the Common cards...or maybe a low-tier UC, at best. It is also odd that Ramjet is in this list while Dirge and Thrust are UCs. Aside from these abberations, the relative capability of the characters is maintained. Finally, the Rs are where we see our first event cards. While the R's have so far followed the tiered approach found in the Cs & UCs rather faithfully, we see with these first event R's that everything is about to be thrown out of whack. Instead of working these event cards into the existing R tier system, every card is made to be more powerful than ANY of the other Rs. As a result, you end up with Event Kickback being more powerful than Optimus Prime (by 900 points!), and Episode Cliffjumper being more powerful than any other R card, event or otherwise. A more pragmatic approach...one that would have preserved game balance and prevented the start of the "deck creep"...would have been to work the event Rs into the established Rare Tiers, as I propose in the picture above and detail below. I'll detail how I work these guys in to the established tiers in a later post, but for now let's examine the tiers: Tier 1 14k-16k: a rather significant jump from the UC stats, this first tier features a few of more memorable characters and also has five of the six characters available for a player upon game start. The weakest of the Rs, these cards are quite useful in the early stages of the game, both in your deck and as upgrade fodder. Tier 2 17k-19.99k: This tier is quite small, but features one character available in the campaign "combat caches" (Laserbeak) while also featuring the weakest of the "Space Bridge Only" cards. I've discussed Ultra Magnus' position in this tier above, so I won't go there. Not much more to be said here. Tier 3 20k-21.99k: Ramjet's position here (ahead of Ultra Magnus, Thundercracker and Prowl, no less) is more than a bit surprising. No other issues, as far as I'm concerned. Tier 4 23k-25k: Okay, here is where the most recognizable faces of the Transformers Universe reside. I've already addressed the disparity in stats, although if you compare Starscream's DEF & Health, it evens out a bit with Megatron, although he still enjoys a significant boost in overall MTM stats. The deck "Recommend" feature routinely places Starscream into a deck consisting primarily of R cards and you can see why, from a AP and MTM standpoint. As much as I like Grimlock, I'd have to argue that his stats should probably be a bit lower, perhaps below those of Shockwave, but I'm pretty happy with where he stands here. And who can argue with Optimus Prime's position? Bottom Line: the Rs follow the same tier pattern...up until the Event Rs are introduced. Then it all goes haywire. Dogs are dating cats, people are running with scissors...it's not pretty. Next: The Non-Event SRs Edit 31 July 2013: just cleaned up some grammar and added some discussion of my tier rationale. Please note that I added similar discussion to the previous posts about the C & UC cards. -Dutch Category:Blog posts